In the past few years there's been some consternation regarding the apparent disappearance of Ahmed Hill in conference play, especially as the year goes on. Has this been the case in the past? Is this the case now? Easy answers: kind of, and hell no, respectively.
In 2016, Hill averaged 10.3 ppg during the first half of the conference slate, but only dropped off by 1 ppg during the second half, in an offense where he was the about the third scoring option, behind LeDay and Allen, splitting time with Robinson, Clarke, and Bibbs.
Last year was a different story. Hill improved to 11.8 ppg for the first half of the conference season, but he fell off dramatically to 2.3 ppg. Interestingly, with the exception of Robinson, every top scorer on the team had noticeable dropoffs in the second half of the season.
How has he positioned himself this season? Hill currently sits at 14 ppg (his best performance over a half conference slate). Of the remaining 9 teams on the conference slate, Hill has average 10 points or more against four of them, and close to 10 against two more. Of the three others, he's averaging 16 ppg this season, all on the road.
The cards are being dealt for him to have a tremendous scoring output in the second half of the conference slate, and break out of the shadow of the poor performance from last year.
Comments
With Clark our this season, I would say hill is our most dynamic player. He just really needs to figure out how to stay hot
Hill's problem was never mental. His problem is that his jumpshot is a slow release and already mechanically flawed to an extent. It works for him when he's wide open, but you don't get very many wide open 3s in ACC play. He use to only be able to score off 3s in the halfcourt offense which is why the drop off in production was so prevalent. Now he's finding different ways to score in the halfcourt offense and doing a good job of picking and choosing when to shoot threes. Last year when things got tough and he wasn't seeing the floor, I kind of expecting him to dip out and spend his 5th year somewhere else. He stuck it out in Blacksburg, though, and is now a great example of what hard work and determination can get you.
Not to mention his defense has drastically improved as well.
I can't imagine this was ever on the table. Keep in mind, Hill was a Marquette recruit who followed Buzz to VT and signed his letter of intent without ever setting foot in Blacksburg. He's the original Buzz guy
Ehh, I wouldn't place too much emphasis on that. Satchel Pierce followed the exact same path as Hill- both were Marquette signees that got out of their LOI when Buzz left and then followed him to Tech. There's no reason Hill couldn't have considered transferring out just like Pierce.
As an aside, the 3rd Marquette signee under Buzz that got out of his LOI was Marial Shayock. He obviously did not follow Buzz here but of course interestingly enough followed him to the Commonwealth and signed with UVA where he played 3 seasons before transferring to Iowa State, where he's now playing his senior season.
I have a hard time believing he'd transfer...
He gets a pretty significant amount of playing time and while a good player, he's not an extraordinary player in the ACC.
I wouldn't think his chances of going pro are very significant even if he transfers to a lower tier school and becomes "the man". Large in part because there's enough tape of him being mediocre throughout ACC play.
With Clarke out/gone, he's our energy guy now, I feel like he's slowly stepping up to fill that void.....fast break dunks, hitting 3s in transition or after some perimeter ball movement.
Amazing things happen when you can see the ball go through the net.
Part of the knock on Hill has been his lack of consistency during his ACC career. While his per game averages in ACC play have shown a steady uptick during his career, he has always struggled as a consistent offensive performer. Even going back to his freshman season, he would bracket a 19-point night with 0-point outings or follow-up consecutive double-figure games with 2 and 4-point performances. While has become a bigger part of the offensive game plan this season, he has always had the potential to be a major contributor on a nightly basis in the past – he just hadn't quite unlocked the level of consistency we've seen this season.
This. I'd be interested in seeing a similar analysis for his shooting splits rather than his ppg. Always felt like he missed more shots in ACC play.
We are so thin right now with 5 out that a 0 point game from Hill would pretty much be a L at this point for any game going forward.. hopefully he stays consistent.
The biggest change he's made is to evolve from solely a 3-point shooter and attacking the rim. He throws down about a dunk per game. Many are in transition, but he is getting to the rim in the halfcourt offense too and not just always sitting in the corner waiting for a pass to hoist. That has negated the effect when he is cold from outside, whereas in the past he would just completely disappear in some games. Of course, last year he also lost a lot of minutes down the stretch when Buzz moved him to the bench and inserted Devin Wilson into the starting lineup for defensive reasons. While he's not going to be confused for a lockdown defender, Hill's defense is much improved this season.